Well, I would love to have a pet, possibly a cat or a dog. :heyalove: I have wanted a pet forever, actually. The problem is, what do I do about leaving the pet at home when I go off to work?

If it's a dog / puppy, it may just chew things and bark all day due to loneliness. And my neighbours won't like the sound of a dog barking, of course. A cat would not like it at home, alone, either.. There is absolutely nobody at home who can take care of my pet when I am at work.

Any ideas on what I can do? Other than wait till I retire.. which is by the way 30 years away? :foopsies: I feel fish as pets do not form a good alternative to dogs/cats. You can't hug a fish, now, can you? No rodents for me either.

misschief

August 29th, 2005, 07:03 AM

i have two puppies that aren't 3 mos yet, if i'm going to be gone for a short period of time i put them in one of those pet taxi things... it's like a cage. if i'm going to be gona a while i put them in the kitchen with a baby gate (because there's no carpet in there).

misschief

August 29th, 2005, 07:17 AM

oh and... as far as barking.. there isn't much you can do about it. they're going to bark for a while, just explain it to the neighbors and tell them it's just a temporary thing. i've had my puppies for about 3 weeks i think and they do bark alot when they play, but they don't do it anymore when we leave. they know i'll be back so they just sit there and have a silent little tantrum :lol:.

Sun Sprite

August 29th, 2005, 09:46 AM

Well, with cats, they won't make much noise. if you get two togehter, they grow up together and play together when you aren't home. Mostly cats sleep when you are gone, and stay up when you are home at night.

Dogs are a whole different story. I have two right now, and they both perfer to be outside, and rarely come in of their own choice. If I accidentally leave them inside and walk to the corner stroe, they won't come near the back door for weeks! They do bark a lot though. They are also company for each other. They have lots of toys to play with, and a large yard to play in.

erika

August 29th, 2005, 10:31 AM

Any puppy should be crate-trained. I would suggest before you go out and get one that you buy at least one book on basic dog training or a new puppy guide. Generally when you put the puppy in the crate, they think of it as their den and will not go to the bathroom in it and will actually be calmer than if they had free roam of your house. It's very very hard to house train a dog properly if they have free roam and go the bathroom all over your place when your not home to show then where they are supposed to go.

i would just suggest really researching a dog before you get one, if you do. It will help a lot in the long run if you actually know what your getting into with both dogs in general and the breed that you'd like. :)

Isil Darkmoon

August 29th, 2005, 12:03 PM

Cats do quite well alone at home for a workday, particularly if you have a pair of them to keep each other company. They're quasi-noctournal anyhow, so they'll sleep most of the day anyhow. As long as your'e home to serve them dinner cuz they don't have opposeable thumbs, you're good ;)

Seriously, I don't recommend cats for, y'know, people who are gone on business trips for weeks at a time, regularly, but for someone working 9-5, they'll be just fine at home. They're a lot more self-sufficient than dogs, and especially puppies.

halfwaynowhere

August 29th, 2005, 03:40 PM

puppies require lots of attention, if you are working and there is nobody home during that time, it may not be the greatest thing for you... of course, if you do decide to get a puppy, crate training is good if you will be gone for a short period of time, but if its going to be several hours, using a baby gate in the kitchen or bathroom, any room with floor, might be a good idea. if you crate train, the crate needs to be just big enough for the dogs bed, food, and water dishes... if you have him/her in a room, put the bed and the food/water on one side of the room, then put training pads or newspaper down on the other side, that way they know that they aren't supposed to poop where they eat and sleep, it will teach them that there is a place for that... although i would suggest a cat, but not a kitten, in your situation. like Isil said, they are pretty self sufficient, kittens are cute, btu they are a handful when they are unsupervised...if you go with a cat, make sure they have a clean litter box, a scratching post or something so they don't ruin your furniture, and plenty of toys... anyways, choosing a pet is a long process, good luck with everything...

Autumn

August 29th, 2005, 04:17 PM

I'll join the others in suggesting two kittens from the same litter.

However you might want to wait till you can grab a vacay and be assured they know where the litter box is...

SilverMaiden

August 29th, 2005, 11:34 PM

Here's what I did with puppies at home.

I hired a dog walker that came come over half way through the day to excercise the pup and took her out to potty.

I excercise my dogs/pups 30 minutes in the morning before I leave for work. I give them kongs stuffed with frozen green beans, yogurt, ice, frosty paws, peanut butter to chew on in their crates. I did crate my dogs until they were old enough to be left unsupervised. When I get home, I excercise them another 20-45 minutes, feed them and have a couple training sessions of 10 minutes and 20 minutes of free play, then some grooming. Then we all just hang out, watch TV, play dog pile or then go to bed. :lol:

On the weekend I usually hike mine 5-10 miles. Except during summer. Summer is too hot so we all just whine a lot waiting for fall. :) Winter is our favorite season.

Moonshine

August 31st, 2005, 03:33 AM

Thank you guys!! For all the replies..:hugz:

I am getting started with the research now. Nothing would hurt more than an unhappy pet. So I am doing the necessary groundwork before getting one. Hmm..having a pair of cats to keep them busy sounds good. Well, this is just one more reason for me to get more than one pet! :heybaby:

Having somebody (I know just the person) to come over to my place and walk the pets is doable. I never gave it a thought. :( Here in India, we have marble flooring, so the cats are free to roam anywhere inside the house.

Thanks again, folks! And a poke! ;)
Moonshine:broomride

Isil Darkmoon

August 31st, 2005, 04:12 AM

Thank you guys!! For all the replies..:hugz:

I am getting started with the research now. Nothing would hurt more than an unhappy pet. So I am doing the necessary groundwork before getting one. Hmm..having a pair of cats to keep them busy sounds good. Well, this is just one more reason for me to get more than one pet! :heybaby:

Having somebody (I know just the person) to come over to my place and walk the pets is doable. I never gave it a thought. :( Here in India, we have marble flooring, so the cats are free to roam anywhere inside the house.

Thanks again, folks! And a poke! ;)
Moonshine:broomride

I don't know the situation over there as regards animal shelters/humane societies, but do keep in mind that adult cats from different litters can be socialized together quite nicely as well. (I tend to try to *not* adopt kittens, myself, since they have a much higher chance of being adopted, overall.) Sometimes the humane society I volunteer at gets in bonded pairs of adults, as well.

But with all the cats my family had had growing up (6 total, from birth to leaving for college) and the 3 I have now, NONE of them were acquired at the same time as any others. Old ones crossed teh Rainbow Bridge, later on a new cat would come into our lives... there were a couple fights the first two or three weeks, sometimes, and some aloofness for months in others, but we have never, ever had serious, major issues with introducing healthy, adult cats. (If you do this, it is the *easiest* to bring them both home at once, so they'er both still settling in and neither has established a "turf" yet, so to speak)